Project Opportunities

Projects under the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) umbrella have the opportunity to engage, network, and collaborate with peers and like-minded people in the cloud native community at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America in Salt Lake City, UT from November 9-12, 2026. Participating in this event allows you to gain valuable mind share of a targeted audience while engaging with thousands of developers, architects, and technical leaders.

• Inform and educate the cloud native community about your project, services, open source strategies, and cloud native direction.
• Take advantage of in-person time to deliver the latest project updates during the Project Lightning Talks and engage further in conversations at the Project Pavilion – a perfect opportunity to dive deeper into discussions!
• Engage the community to assist with reaching 100% security while immersing new contributors in the cloud native community.
• Projects have the opportunity to gain visibility with media and analysts.

We invite CNCF Chairs of TAGs and Kubernetes SIGs + working groups and Maintainers from graduated, incubating, and sandbox projects to participate in the following project opportunities.

Scholarships are available for maintainers who may need support to attend KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026. For more information, please visit the Scholarships + Travel Funding page (coming soon).

*If you are a sub-project, coordinate with the hosting project, or the submission will be declined.

*Project Benefits are not guaranteed and are based on availability and venue limitations.

---

Intended Audience: Attendees (Beginner)

Projects will have the opportunity to deliver 5-minute lightning talks on the day preceding KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. This platform offers projects the chance to showcase their recent updates, features, and other highlights to their peers. The project lightning talks will be included in the conference schedule based on availability. Note: You may only speak in two project lightning talks.

---

Intended Audience: Non-Maintainers and End-Users (Any)

Leaders of CNCF Graduated and Incubating Projects and Activities (Such as members of Working Groups, TAGs) can submit to host one 30-minute session during KubeCon + CloudNativeCon within the Maintainer Track. We highly recommend non-maintainers be put forward as speakers for your talk. Participation is subject to availability, and submitting does not guarantee selection.

Each speaker can speak at only one Maintainer Track session. This does not count against the speaker limits for Kubecon + CloudNativeCon standard CFP or ContribFest.

To be considered, you must satisfy the requirements below:

Graduated/Incubating Projects
To submit, you must be a maintainer on this list for a CNCF Graduated or Incubating project, but the actual speaker(s) are not required to have maintainer status. Sandbox projects are not eligible for maintainer track sessions.

All Others
If you are a sub-project, coordinate with the hosting project, or the submission will be declined.

---

Intended Audience: Attendees (Intermediate + Expert)

Contribfest sessions are available to all conference attendees and are 75-minute in-person sessions designed to provide projects with the space and resources to tackle outstanding technical debt, security issues, or outstanding impactful feature requests. It is intended to provide a place for maintainers to meet contributors and potential contributors and work together on solving a problem.

To be considered, you must satisfy the requirements below:

• At least one speaker must be a maintainer of the project with the commit bit. A maximum of four speakers is allowed.
• Maintainers do not need to lead the Contribfest session, but projects must provide at least one individual to facilitate the work during the Contribfest session.
• In your session description field, describe the problem space and the benefit that a Contribfest can provide your project.

Contribfest is offered to graduated, incubating, and sandbox projects only. SIGs, TAGs, and Working Groups are not eligible for a ContribFest session at this time.

---

We believe in the value of face-to-face events and the connections and relationships that stem from them. A kiosk at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon provides the opportunity for the project to have representatives available to engage with attendees in person.

Project kiosk schedule will be announced in late August.
*Please keep in mind that projects will have the flexibility to choose their hosting hours, based on maturity level parameters. This means one project could opt for morning showcase hours, while another could prefer the afternoon slot.

As a representative of your project, we expect you to:

• Be a current maintainer or contributor of the project.
• Educate attendees visiting the booth and encourage them to contribute to the projects.
• Answer questions.
• Be an overall spokesperson for your project.
• Arrive on time and stay present at your kiosk for the entire duration of your scheduled slot.
• Be prepared to share a quick “elevator pitch” about your project during the Project Pavilion Daily Tours.

We encourage you to share your project’s use cases and your organization’s involvement in the CNCF. However, you are prohibited from giving attendees sales pitches about a product or company. If we hear a sales pitch being conducted, we reserve the right to ask you to leave and to deny future requests to participate in the project pavilion.

Kiosk Inclusions: One (1) monitor, one (1) cabinet for storage during shift, and project logo signage only*

*Custom graphics are not permitted in the project pavilion.

*If you are a sub-project, coordinate with the hosting project, or the submission will be declined.

*Please note that submission does not guarantee placement, as assignments are based on availability and space constraints.

---

The deadline for submitting your interest for all KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026 Project Opportunities is Wednesday, July 22, and submissions for Maintainer Track, ContribFest, and Project Lightning Talks is Sunday, July 12. We encourage you to submit as soon as possible, as space is limited and demand is high. Requests will be considered based on project maturity.

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].

General Information

What is the value of participating in these project offerings?

CNCF Projects can benefit from participating in one or more project offerings by engaging with the open source community and teaching attendees about the project and how to contribute.

I am not a CNCF project. Can I still participate in these project offerings?

At this time, we are only accepting CNCF projects, TAGs, and SIGs to participate in the Project Pavilion.

If you are interested in contributing your project to CNCF or discussing how CNCF can help your project, please contact [email protected] and read the TOC repo.

Maintainer Summit

Where can I find more information about the Maintainer Summit?

The CNCF Maintainer Summit is an exclusive event for the people behind our projects to gather face-to-face, collaborate, and celebrate the projects that make “Cloud Native”. Note: This is not an event for general attendance. Several groups can attend:

• Sandbox Project Maintainers (as listed in project-maintainers.csv)
• Incubating & Graduated Project GitHub Org Members
• CNCF TAG Leads & the CNCF TOC

Additional information about the Maintainer Summit is shared directly with these groups.

In-Person Kiosk

If we host a Project Kiosk, do we receive passes for our kiosk staff?

We do not offer complimentary passes to projects hosting an in-person kiosk in the Project Pavilion. This has been a practice of the event since 2017. CNCF provides need-based scholarships, and we recommend checking the Attend section of the event website for more information.

What does the Project Kiosk include?

The kiosks provided onsite will include a monitor, a cabinet for storage during shift, and project logo signage. Any additional items/needs will have to be approved and ordered by the project.

What is the difference between a Full-Time kiosk and a Half-Day kiosk?

A project hosting a half-day kiosk will be sharing the kiosk with another project. One project will be hosting the kiosk during AM hours, and the other will host PM hours. A project hosting a full-time kiosk will host the kiosk for the entire duration of showcase hours during the week. Kindly note that Sandbox projects qualify to host a single kiosk shift only (ie, Wednesday AM only).

Can custom graphics be added to our Project Kiosk?

Custom graphics are not permitted in the Project Pavilion.

Are pull-up banners and/or table cloths permitted for our Project Kiosk?

Banners and tablecloths are not permitted as all kiosks within the Project Pavilion are to have a standard uniform look.

Can we ship swag to our Project Kiosk?

You are allowed to ship a limited number of boxes to your kiosk. There will be on-site storage available; however, it is on a first-come, first-served basis, and availability is not guaranteed. Shared kiosks cannot store items at the kiosk after their scheduled hours. Shipping information will be available upon request. Please email [email protected] for shipping information.

Can leads be collected at our kiosk?

Capturing leads is not a benefit of hosting a project kiosk. The purpose of the Project Pavilion is to educate the open source community on CNCF Projects, rather than presenting project or product sales pitches.

Can we host F&B at our kiosk?

Yes, projects will be able to order F&B to their kiosk at the project’s own cost. Please reach out to [email protected] for more information.

Is there an option to have a virtual booth?

There will not be any virtual booths for the Project Pavilion.

Miscellaneous

Our sandbox project is graduating to incubating before the event. Can I participate in PR Support?

If you’re graduating to incubating before the event, the CNCF team will reach out to you when your project passes the TOC vote. We’ll be able to provide support and details at that time. Please note that projects have until eight weeks before the event to qualify for the benefits associated with the next level of project maturity.

Can we use our project logo on swag (hats, pins, t-shirts, etc.) to recognize project contributors without violating any CNCF trademark policies?

Please submit a service desk ticket with the CNCF team, sharing a mock-up and listing which item(s) are to be approved and information on who will be receiving these items. Please allow up to 5 business days for review. Note: Submitting a ticket does not guarantee approval.

Are scholarships available for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026?

Yes, the Dan Kohn Scholarship Program exists to support individuals who may not otherwise be able to attend, including maintainers. Learn more and apply on the Scholarships page (coming soon).

Who should I contact with further questions?

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for further questions.